With
apologies to Neil Armstrong, the Northcoast 84 may be a small step up
for yacht owners, but she's a giant leap forward for the builder.
For while she's based on the Pacific Northwest yard's successful
82, you'd never know it. She has enough new styling features inside
and out, as well as new engineering features, that she not only makes
you forget the sibling relationship, but also poses a challenge to other
American builders' offerings in this same size range.

The
new styling features were among the things that convinced a couple from
southwest Florida to commission the first 84, which they christened Southern
Lady. Having owned an American-built 60-foot sportfisherman, they were
looking for a larger yacht, but not one so large that they wouldn't
be able to handle it themselves. After all, the husband enjoyed running
the 60-footer from the flying bridge and wanted to do the same on his
next yacht. Northcoast met that need by creating a new flying-bridge helm.
Where the 82 had a steering station that like those of most yachts in
this size range was basically comprised of repeaters, Southern Lady has
nearly a full helm here. Another feature she has that you won't
find on most yachts smaller than 100 feet LOA is wing stations. And yet
another set of controls is mounted on the aft deck.

Even
the fact that Southern Lady is a flying-bridge motoryacht is noteworthy.
During the past few years, sky-lounge configurations have gained in popularity.
But while the additional inside gathering spot on the flying bridge in
this type of layout is a nice idea, it greatly reduces the amount of usable
outdoor space up top. And since most owners prefer to stow a RIB and/or
watertoys aft of the sky lounge, they usually can only squeeze in a small
outdoor table and benchseat.

These drawbacks don't exist on Southern Lady. In fact, Northcoast
graced her with much more seating than the 82 featured. The yard eliminated
the 82's small L-shape lounge, replacing it with two L-shape lounges
and tables aft of the helm, followed by a barbecue, icemaker, and sink
amidship. A RIB stows fully aft, alongside a 2,000-pound-capacity Marquipt
davit. The part of the flying bridge that supports the RIB and davit is
also different on the 84 compared to the 82: Where the aft deck was open
to the sun on the 82, it's shaded by the 84's extended flying
bridge. It's sure to be appreciated by the owners and guests when
they're taking in the Gulf Coast scenery from the molded-in seat
(replacing loose furniture or countering the assumption that everyone
would prefer to gather on the flying bridge).